Word: andamans
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...nests harvested from the wild, a side of the industry that is murky and sometimes violent; in the past, only those with money, muscle and good political connections prospered. In Thailand, fewer than a dozen companies harvest nests from some 170 islands in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, in return for paying multimillion-dollar concession fees to the government. The remote islands are guarded by dozens of armed men - in effect private armies - and are often run "like independent states," says Jandam, the author of the industry study. Companies discourage all visitors, claiming they might disrupt...
...much discrimination. The man's name was Muhammad - he gave me his Bengali name, not the Burmese one that Rohingya are also required to have - and he left Burma two years ago on a crowded wooden boat filled with wannabe migrants. Eventually, the vessel drifted to India's Andaman Islands, from which he and others were repatriated. Would he try his luck abroad again, I asked? The news of the recent boatpeople's experiences in Thailand had reached Arakan. He nodded, bouncing a child on his lap. Then, village elder O Lam Myit spoke. "I am old, so I cannot...
...embarked on a journey they thought would convey them to a better life. They would perhaps land on Thailand's southwestern coast and then seek work there or in the Muslim promised land of Malaysia. On Dec. 28, 98 of them were found drifting by India's remote Andaman Islands, starving and dehydrated, a picture of the hardship weathered by generations of boat people fleeing adversity only to fall into even greater trials...
Reports trickling out in recent weeks from various countries lining the Andaman Sea have related portions of this ordeal as well as other, similar incidents involving the same ethnic group. But the tale of one survivor has emerged that, if accurate, paints a picture of a dehumanizing odyssey, portraying the actions of surrounding governments in horrific tones. The man's name is Muzaffar, and his testimony was obtained over cell phone from his place of temporary detention in India by the Arakan Project, a Bangkok-based group advocating the rights of these boat people. Muzaffar's account appears to amplify...
...marines also cut them adrift after destroying the engines on their boats, and they managed to stay afloat by erecting sails made of plastic tarpaulin. Survivors from a second wave of refugees "pushed back" from Thailand - a contingent of some 580 - have also made their way to India's Andaman Islands. It is not known whether those who landed at Aceh were part of this same group. The front page of the Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post on Jan. 15 displayed pictures snapped by an Australian tourist in Thailand of Thai troops whipping recently detained Rohingya...